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Building through free agency and ignoring the draft is a way to end up in the lotto for a decade straight playing in front of an empty building... like the Pistons last night! The Suns have been building through free agency and trades while neglecting the draft for the last several years... and look where its gotten them.

If we dont start drafting better then the franchise is doomed to suck.

We have been building through the draft wtf are you talking about. Marshall, Kieff, Clark, Dragic, Lopez, Griffin, Tucker. We just waste our picks because they are ****** picks. We will keep ending up with those picks because of the philosophy of our FO. "TANKING IS BAD FOR BUSINESS". I can guarantee that as long as we have Sarver we will never build through the draft. He is a banker, all he cares about is the money.

We have been building through the draft wtf are you talking about. Marshall, Kieff, Clark, Dragic, Lopez, Griffin, Tucker. We just waste our picks because they are ****** picks. We will keep ending up with those picks because of the philosophy of our FO. "TANKING IS BAD FOR BUSINESS". I can guarantee that as long as we have Sarver we will never build through the draft. He is a banker, all he cares about is the money.

Nah, building through the draft is when you get multiple Top 10 (if not Top 5) picks over a number of years. Where we've been drafting there's rarely any players who turn into starters let alone franchise players.

But yes, tanking is bad for business in the short term and I agree that Sarver is totally against tanking. He's a banker, not a tanker

^^Rolo could of been Hibbert, Clark could of been Taj, Marshall was the right choice, Kieff is pretty good but you can make the case for Shumpert. I understand what you mean about the top 5-10 picks. And at the end of the day if we not tanking then we need to go the Lakers/Knicks route or go the HOU/NOH route.

^^Rolo could of been Hibbert, Clark could of been Taj, Marshall was the right choice, Kieff is pretty good but you can make the case for Shumpert. I understand what you mean about the top 5-10 picks. And at the end of the day if we not tanking then we need to go the Lakers/Knicks route or go the HOU/NOH route.

Hibbert (14.4 MPG, 42 games started), Gibson (26.9 MPG, 70 games started), and Shumpert (28.9 MPG, 35 games started) were all given opportunities; that's my point here - Phoenix never give their rookies a chance nowadays. RoLo (10.2 MPG, 7 games started), Dragic (13.2 MPG, 1 game started) and Morris (19.5 MPG, 7 games started) have been given the most opportunity out of our rookies in recent years, and even they pale in comparison to the court time/starterís roles that other rookies get.

Lakers/Knicks option isn't viable because Phoenix is not a large market and we don't have an owner who is prepared to pay luxury tax year after year in order to win a ring.

Hibbert (14.4 MPG, 42 games started), Gibson (26.9 MPG, 70 games started), and Shumpert (28.9 MPG, 35 games started) were all given opportunities; that's my point here - Phoenix never give their rookies a chance nowadays. RoLo (10.2 MPG, 7 games started), Dragic (13.2 MPG, 1 game started) and Morris (19.5 MPG, 7 games started) have been given the most opportunity out of our rookies in recent years, and even they pale in comparison to the court time/starterís roles that other rookies get.

Lakers/Knicks option isn't viable because Phoenix is not a large market and we don't have an owner who is prepared to pay luxury tax year after year in order to win a ring.

you think its a coaching problem? that some coaches really are reluctant/resistant to play rookies?

Hibbert (14.4 MPG, 42 games started), Gibson (26.9 MPG, 70 games started), and Shumpert (28.9 MPG, 35 games started) were all given opportunities; that's my point here - Phoenix never give their rookies a chance nowadays. RoLo (10.2 MPG, 7 games started), Dragic (13.2 MPG, 1 game started) and Morris (19.5 MPG, 7 games started) have been given the most opportunity out of our rookies in recent years, and even they pale in comparison to the court time/starterís roles that other rookies get.

Lakers/Knicks option isn't viable because Phoenix is not a large market and we don't have an owner who is prepared to pay luxury tax year after year in order to win a ring.

Exactly the change needs to happen with the ownership. We need to have an owner becausr regardless of what happens the owner needs to invest. If we suck and rebuild the draft then our owner needs to be ready to take a hit financially before he can make profit. If we decide on going the LAL/NYK then the owner needs to be committed to possibly overpaying a player(thats worth it of course) or 2 along with not being afraid to get into the luxury tax before winning it all and cashing in. You're right we're not LAL/NYK but we're not OKC or CHA. I'm not an accountant or a genius in regards to finances but we're a big enough market to be able to have a team that can pay itself basically. Specially if the owner is willing to spend in order to have an elite team here. I don't know if what I'm saying makes much sense but that's my opinion. Regardless of what happens the owner has to be committed to go all in or be prepared to lose. Being mediocre is not an option anymore just so Sarver can avoid losing money.

you think its a coaching problem? that some coaches really are reluctant/resistant to play rookies?

At a guess I'd say that it is the coach's decision (DíAntoni and Gentry), but it may be the directive handed down from Sarver & the FO. In any case, weíve been terrible at developing rookies for years, basically ever since Sarver bought the franchise.

We have been building through the draft wtf are you talking about. Marshall, Kieff, Clark, Dragic, Lopez, Griffin, Tucker. We just waste our picks because they are ****** picks. We will keep ending up with those picks because of the philosophy of our FO. "TANKING IS BAD FOR BUSINESS". I can guarantee that as long as we have Sarver we will never build through the draft. He is a banker, all he cares about is the money.

Since Sarver bought the team we have traded or sold at something like 6 first round picks. And its clear our draft scouting is lacking. We are NOT building through the draft. We have ONE rotation player on a rookie contract. Thats absurd. Its impossible to claim we have been using the draft as a focus. And if money is all the team cares about then they should load up on picks because its the most cost effective way to acquire new talent.

A list of players drafted using picks the Sarver era Suns owned but never played for the Suns:
Lou Deng
Nate Robinson
Rajon Rondo
Nikola Mirotic
Quincy Pondexter
Serge Ibaka

Exactly the change needs to happen with the ownership. We need to have an owner becausr regardless of what happens the owner needs to invest. If we suck and rebuild the draft then our owner needs to be ready to take a hit financially before he can make profit. If we decide on going the LAL/NYK then the owner needs to be committed to possibly overpaying a player(thats worth it of course) or 2 along with not being afraid to get into the luxury tax before winning it all and cashing in. You're right we're not LAL/NYK but we're not OKC or CHA. I'm not an accountant or a genius in regards to finances but we're a big enough market to be able to have a team that can pay itself basically. Specially if the owner is willing to spend in order to have an elite team here. I don't know if what I'm saying makes much sense but that's my opinion. Regardless of what happens the owner has to be committed to go all in or be prepared to lose. Being mediocre is not an option anymore just so Sarver can avoid losing money.

It makes sense, and I totally agree. Even if we were able to assemble a team much like OKC, if Sarver isnít prepared to cough up the coin once rookie contracts are due for extension then itíll be 2005 all over again.

Since Sarver bought the team we have traded or sold at something like 6 first round picks. And its clear our draft scouting is lacking. We are NOT building through the draft. We have ONE rotation player on a rookie contract. Thats absurd. Its impossible to claim we have been using the draft as a focus. And if money is all the team cares about then they should load up on picks because its the most cost effective way to acquire new talent.

A list of players drafted using picks the Sarver era Suns owned but never played for the Suns:
Lou Deng
Nate Robinson
Rajon Rondo
Nikola Mirotic
Quincy Pondexter
Serge Ibaka